Bullets shatter Surrey restaurant glass
Mounties say they’re amazed nobody was hurt as intended victims, shooters flee
Patrons at an Earls restaurant at 72nd Avenue and Scott Road in Surrey got the fright of their lives when shots were fired into the popular eatery.
Sgt. Dale Carr of the Surrey RCMP said multiple gunshots were fired along the back of the establishment Monday night and a pane of glass on the restaurant’s patio was shattered right beside diners. He said police are amazed no one was hurt.
The incident, he said, brings the number of public shootings in Surrey to more than 30 since March.
According to Carr, at least 16 of those cases are related to an ongoing feud between two groups of low-end drug dealers.
Carr said police have yet to talk to the people who were targeted Monday night, and so they can’t say if the latest shooting is related to that turf war.
“We won’t know until we get to talk to the (intended) victims,” who fled the scene after the shots, he said.
“This is a case of the victims not waiting around for police to arrive.”
Investigators are sifting through video surveillance from the area and Carr said they hope to determine how many people were targeted and how many were involved in firing the guns.
What is clear, he said, is that in Monday’s incident, similar to some others, “this is a case where there was a clear target.”
It is believed there could be two shooters and they may have left the area in a hurry in a silver SUV.
The Mounties recently held a news conference to warn the public they are concerned that the gunplay may take the life of an innocent bystander. A dedicated number to help stop the ongoing turf war has been created and anyone with a tip is asked to call 604-915-6566.